Udon Izakaya Maedaya, Melbourne CBD (with vegan broth)

When Sylvia first took me to Udon Izakaya Maedaya, it was so good I went there 3 days in a week.  This is very uncommon to go to a restaurant that often. Such a nice change!  It was as though a benevolent divine being had arrange it for me.  Sylvia and I had dinner there before Lightscapes, then some days later I went for another dinner with Heather after an Open House Melbourne talk.  The day after that I returned there with Sylvia when I went into the city to pick up a lost scarf.  It gave me a chance to try different delicious dishes, to be treated well by the staff and enjoy the bustling atmosphere.

When Sylvia first went to Udon Izakaya Maedaya with her dad, I am not sure if she was more excited by the udon noodles or the cheap mocktails.  It was not too long until she took me along.  The menu is a lot of pictures and I was not clear on what I wanted at first.  The staff were very helpful with any questions and Sylvia had already discovered online that, if you order the udon noodles in broth, you can ask for a vegan broth (even though I could not see this on the menu).

We were having dinner before the dazzling display of lights at Lightscapes in the Botanic Gardens so some brightly coloured mocktails seemed just the thing.  I had the Yuzu matcha lemonade and Sylvia had the Frozen strawberry (real strawberry syrup topped up with lemonade at $8.50 each.  (A jar of mocktails is $24.80.)  She found hers a quite sweet but I loved mine (so did she).   

We were planning on having a few snacks at Lightscapes so we shared a light meal: Edamame ($3.50), Lotus chips ($5), and Yasai tempura udon (that is fried vegetables with udon noodles in a light vegan broth - for a very reasonable $12).  

Sylvia was excited by the udon noodles because had read about how good udon could be but never really really enjoyed them from a packet.  These thick wheat noodles are fresh, soft and slurpy with a pleasing chewiness.  The broth was flavoursome enough to eat by itself but not overbearing.  And we were able to request a vegan broth.  Going to Asian restaurants can be hit and miss as to whether they have vegan broth even if the rest of a soup is vegetarian.  So this made Udon Izakaya Maedaya very attractive to us.

Everything on our plate was delicious.  The tempura that came with the soup was nicely fried.  Sylvia is not a fan of tempura vegetables but I love the soft cooked vegetables with a light crispy batter.  The edamame were lovely.  The surprise of the evening was how good the crisp lotus chips were and they looks so beautiful.

My next visit a few days later was with a friend Heather.  We got there towards the end of the happy hour because we had been to an Open House talk at the nearby Capitol Cinema.  After some discussion with the waiter, she ordered the okonomiyaki.  We had confirmed with the waiter that it was vegetarian so I had a little taste and it was very nice.

I tried the Yasai tempura donburi $12.  This was a rice version of the yasai udon that I had had previously.  It  was a bowl of rice with vegetable tempura.  It was really nice with a dipping sauce but I preferred the udon with the lovely vegan broth.  I was very impressed with the non-alcoholic Choya Yuzu Soda (which cost $7 in happy hour or $9.80 at other times).  We went elsewhere for a hot drink afterwards as it was a cold winter night.

When I got home from seeing Heather, I found that I had left my scarf at the wine bar where we had our hot drinks.  The easiest way to fix this was to head back into the city the next day.  Sylvia was delighted to have a chance to return to Udon Izakaya Maedaya.  We started with some refreshing mocktails again.  This time Sylvia had the Yuzu matcha lemonade and I had the startling blue Ginger lemonade with hint of orange.

We wanted to try something new so we decided to have udon noodles and share the Agedeshi tofu salad (lightly battered and fried silken tofu with salad, sesame sauce and shredded seaweed for $11.50).  It was so very good.  Usually I am not a huge fan of agedeshi tofu because I am not so keen on cold silken tofu but the sesame sauce was delicious and the lettuce and tomato made it really refreshing.

Sylvia had Udon noodles in broth ($8.50) and I had Kitsune udon noodles in broth ($10.90).  I was fascinated with the noodle soup served with shitake tempura and seasoned aburaage (thin fried tofu).  I read that Kitsune udon noodles is the Japanese equivalent of chicken noodle soup for sick people.  This indeed great comfort food.  But the sheets of aburaage were not so easy to eat with chopsticks.

We had decided this was our opportunity to try a dessert.  Sylvia was very keen on sharing the Matcha daifuku ($3.50).  Daifuku is mochi stuffed with a filling.  This one was a disc of matcha mochi filled with matcha paste and whipped cream.  The texture of the chewy mochi and smooth filling was delicious.  The bittersweet matcha flavour balances well with the creamy filling and fresh sweet orange slices on the side.

This meal of two bowls of noodle soup, a salad, dessert and two mocktails was a total $51.40.  That's pretty reasonable these days in Melbourne.  The happy hour can make your meal even cheaper if you are strategic.  And it is a pleasant place to eat with a lively crowd and friendly, helpful staff.

When my friend Alison was in town for dinner in December, we had a lovely dinner and catch up here. We arrived early and discovered that happy hour between 5 and 7pm can be a bit noisy though cheery.  She had a discounted beer and fried chicken and I enjoyed a refreshing Choya ube soda with my lovely udon noodles and agedeshi tofu salad.  

So many times when I really enjoy a restaurant I went to go there the next day.  To be blessed with happy conveniences that meant I could do just that was a real treat.  And it is great to know an amazing cheap place for dinner in the city.  Good noodles, vegan broth and a place where the non-alcoholic drinks are as good as the alcoholic ones is a rare treat indeed!

Udon Izakaya Maedaya
168-174 Bourke St (near the corner of Russell Street)
Melbourne CBD
Open: lunchtimes daily 12-3pm, dinner Sun-Wed 5-10pm, Th 5-10.30pm, Fri 5-11pm
https://www.facebook.com/udonizakayamaedaya/

My Monthly Chronicles: December 2024

December was busy but feels an age away now.  I've had my Christmas and New Year holidays and been back to work for a week.  I've posted about Christmas lights and sights, Christmas food and in my December kitchen.  And I have even reflected on 2024.  It is amazing that I have anything left to say about last month.  And yet I do.  After all, there was much to do with enjoying the long days of summer (and the solstice), lunches while out about for the festivities, catch ups with friends I had meant to see for ages,   and I was on leave from wor from 24 December.

Nosh, CBD

Above is a photo of dinner from Nosh (52 Little Collins St, Melbourne VIC 3000) while on a trip to the city to see the festive lights.  In the photo, you can se the queues for Myer Christmas windows in the background.  I had a bowl of  festively named Miso Falalalafel.  The bowl had a nice helping of Miso beetroot falafel, spicy mayo, coconut turmeric rice, mixed baby leaves, edamame, pineapple, baby spinach salad.  I would have liked a few more vegies.  It was a nice healthy bowl that is both vegan and gluten free and I am delighted to find a place where I can buy a cheap and quick meal in the city until 8.30pm that is not just fried food.

Darebin creek

I got some good bike rides in before Christmas.  One was to Darebin Creek.  It is not that far from me so I am surprised this was the first time I have seen it.  Another time I might have more time to ride along the bike track by the creek.  After Christmas I had some quiet days but when I had a ride to Coburg Lake, with my friend Jo, on my e-bike the motor was not quite right so I am still waiting to hear back from the bike shop.  I really miss my bike.

Bar Idda, East Brunswick

We had a lovely lunch with my parents at Bar Idda at 132 Lygon Street.  After an excellent dinner there in 2018, I was not surprised that Bar Idda served amazing vegetarian Italian food that is not loaded with carbs.  it was lovely to order a few plates to share.  We had Herb and garlic focaccia, Arancino with smoked scamorza cheese, Baked eggplant, tomato and cheese (mulinciani), Cavatelli past with zucchini, chilli and mint, Gnocchi with pomodora and mozzarella, and Capunata with fried cauliflower, tomato, olives, capers, walnuts and parsley.  

It was all delicious with vegetables beautifully cooked and lovely flavours.  Sylvia had a refreshing mocktail and my dad enjoyed some wine while my mum and I just shared their drinks and enjoyed the sparking water on tap!  And the restaurant is beautiful with lots of green vines cascading over a cast iron lace verandah visible out the front window.

Esha Tewari gig, Richmond

I took Sylvia to an all ages gig at the Leadbeater Hotel in Church Road, Richmond to see Sydney singer songwriter Esha Tewari.  Great fun with dreamy music, friendly chatter and Sylvia getting a selfie with Esha afterwards!

Sammy J farewell from ABC 774 Breakfasts, Carlton

I have long been a fan of comedian Sammy J.  For the past 5 years he has been the voice of the ABC Melbourne breakfast radio.  I've enjoyed listening to him (when up early enough).  It is sad he is leaving but I look forward to seeing what he does next.  I cycled to see his farewell live show in December in the forecourt of the Melbourne Museum.  It was great fun to see him live and I loved that another former ABC radio favourite, Jon Faine (pictured with Sammy J) came to watch and got asked to chat with Sammy on stage.  Vale Sammy J.

Nikos, Fairfield

Just before Christmas, I had a lovely lunch with Kerin at Nikos (254-262 Wingrove St, Fairfield).  I enjoyed my Pumpkin filo scroll with a big bowl of Apple pomegranate coleslaw.  The leftover slaw was great in sandwiches at home over a few days.  And my sunset mocktail was beautiful and refreshing

I also enjoyed riding my bike to Fairfield which lovely ride along the Merri Creek and one I had dreamt of as I had driven the car that way the week before!  Such lovely tree lined streets to ride along on a warm day.

Brown Deli, Geelong

While visiting my parents to help put up the Christmas tree, Sylvia and I had a very satisfying lunch at Brown Deli (5 Cunningham St Geelong).  I had a simple Vegemite, seed and avocado bagel while Sylvia had a Breakfast egg bagel packed with  fluffy egg. haloumi, avo. tomato, lettuce. mustard, and BBQ.  We also had great drinks: strawberry iced matcha for Sylvia and Strangelove cloudy pear soda for me. It is only a small hole in the wall with a few outdoor seats in a laneway.  Our seats in the shady were appreciated on a warm day.

Blue Bag, CBD

One one of my last days at work in the city before Christmas, it was a crazy hot day and I decided I needed a big salad.  Not organised enough to do it at home, I bought a Greens and Grains Salad from Blue Bag (Madame Brussels Lane, 50 Lonsdale Street).  It was really good: rocket, farro & black barley, cucumber. spring onion. green beans, broccoli & edamame & pea mix, almonds, pomegranate, seed mix and mixed herbs with green goddess dressing ($16) though buying it on the way into work meant the food had not yet been set out so it took some time to make.  It was so filling that I only got half eaten at lunchtime before a 12.30pm meeting but I ate the rest afterwards al desko.

Bolo Bake, Airport West

Sylvia raved to me the first time she went to Bola Bake ( 22A Fraser St) in an old warehouse in an industrial street in the west of Melbourne.  So I took my friend Kathleen there to catch up.  She had the French toast and I had a Soba salad.  It was great to to see her and enjoy good food.  I was very impressed by their Christmas decorations and took lots of photos to show Sylvia.  She really wanted to see them for herself.

Bolo Bakes, Airport West II

A week or two later I went back to Bolo Bake with Sylvia.  The loved the decorations: the tree, the shiny deer on the tables, the table runners, the model of a snow covered church.  Getting into the festive mood, Sylvia had a gingerbread latte with lots of cream, cinnamon crumbles and a cherry on top.  She had the Breaky Sando with fried egg, hash brown, chilli relish, cheddar cheese, mayo, and substituted haloumi for the bacon.  I went for the Strawberry nutella shokupan french toast fritter generously topped with marscapone, ice cream and whipped cream.  That was too much dairy for me but it was delicious

Wicked at Sunset Cinema, Abbotsford Convent

Sylvia wisely booked tickets ahead of time to Wicked at the outdoor Sunset Cinema at Abbotsford Convent. We were so busy by the time it came around I might have cancelled it if we hadn't booked.  Instead of the planed dinner out at the former convent, we had minestrone at home and took some of Sylvia's baking (mince tarts and miso banana bread - see In My Kitchen) plus a cup of popcorn.  It was a magical movie to see outdoors although a tad long.  If it had been shorter they might have fitted the whole story into the movie rather than just part 1.  As the season at Abbotsford Convent has finished, I am very glad we went.

Abbotsford Convent jacaranda

One nice thing about outdoor cinema is that is about more that just a film.  It is about location and watching the sun set and the darkening sky.  You can see the beautiful convent building in the previous photo and the crowd sitting watching the screen.  We were glad we ordered bean bags as part of our tickets.  As we went home I took this photo of a jacaranda tree in bloom lit up by the lights below.  It captures the charm of the outdoors at night that is part of outdoor cinema.

Pure Pie, Carlton Farmers Market

I had my second visit to Carlton Farmers Market at Carlton North Primary School (6054/60 Lee St, Carlton North) to see my sister at her peanut butter stall (Frankly Raw).  She makes amazing peanut butter and it is fun to watch people taste it then try and chat to her!  

It is also a chance to check out all the wonderful stalls.  I bought a Mac and Cheese bite for lunch at Pure Pie (by the scotch eggs in the photo above). It was sooo good but really rich so I kept half to take home to Sylvia.  I also took her a canale because she loves them but they aren't about much.  Maybe I will get to Farmers Markets more often in 2025!

China Bar, CDB

On my last day before finishing up for Christmas I went for lunch with colleages.  It was pretty busy in the city.  It seemed everyone wanted a celebratory lunch!  We found a table at the China Bar (255 Russell St, Melbourne).  I have been past many times (often squirming at the shiny glazed whole carcases hanging in the window) but never been in before.  

I ordered the Mushroom and vegetable noodles soup.  It was nice but a bit bland.  When my colleague with the same order.  I also ordered a sour plum iced drink that was surprisingly salty.  I felt like a stranger to their menu but learnt some things to look out for next time!looked for some chilli sauce, we realised that we should have added some flavours from the extras list.  

Tylers Milkbar, Preston

I have had some great experiences with toasties at Tylers MilkBar (656 Plenty Road).  When we recently had lunch there, I was delighted that there was a new salad on the menu.  It was so good I begged one of the owners to keep it on the menu and was glad to hear it was popular.  

The salad was called the EPICCC Salad from a Jessica Prescott cookbook and had "roasted corn, chickpeas, sweet potato, smoked almonds, spinach, ricotta salata, coriander, pickled red onion with house-made chipotle dressing and lime."  I left my coriander on the side, could have had slightly less spiciness but enjoyed the smokiness of the optional coconut bacon.  

Meanwhile Sylvia had a cheese and coconut bacon toastie and we both had icy drinks,  We also tried some festive cupcakes and gingerbread but this place has so much good food and good vibes that it deserves its own post if only I can find time!

Carolina cafe and bar, Brunswick East

It felt right to finish the year with a visit to Carolina cafe and bar (11 Nicholson Street) at the top of the Carlton North shopping strip.  Sylvia had wanted to go there earlier a few times but they close at 2pm and we were always running too late.  This time, just after Christmas, we met my brother Paul at 11.30am and already the sweet baking was sold out.   

Sylvia was excited to finally get her "Bratcha" (a matcha latte with Brat written on it) with a breakfast burger with egg, haloumi and salad.  Paul had a coffee and tofu scramble on toast.  I had a fried tofu and salad sandwich with a can of Bobby soda.  I've never tried Bobby sodas before but was happy to find they have probiotics in them and aren't too sweet.  We all enjoyed our meals and loved sitting out in the leafy courtyard.  The cafe is in an old boot shop and is certainly worth a visit.

Readings Bookstore and the Nova Cinema, Carlton

It is always a delight to spend time on Lygon Street.  It was my local for many years of university and is a vibrant place today.  I especially love the Cinema Nova and managed to go twice on a Monday in my holidays.  It is not as cheap as it was in 2002 when E and I could have dinner and a movie for $15 each on a Monday.  Tickets are still much less than many other cinemas.  The lure of $7 tickets during the day made me book Wallace and Gromit: Fowl Revenge" to see with Sylvia even though I was already seeing a Better Man (about Robbie Williams as a monkey) in the evening for $10 each. 

Both movies were really enjoyable.  Every bit as entertaining was this movie goer review of Wallace and Gromit on the cinema wall (where people write their reactions on cards)."This movie has inspired within us a deep analysis of our modern world.  Undoubtedly an icarian allegory for capitalism, the unregulated rise of Artificial intelligence and the role of the powerless citizen".  Beatrice and Francesca need their own movie review show!   Every bit as fun was browsing in Readings Bookstore (above) after the movie.  I want to live in this shop and spend my time in window seats reading all the books!

Ti Amo, Carlton

We love a movie and a meal.  So I ate well.  Sylvia and I went to TiAmo (303 Lygon St) and finished 2024 with a similar meal to the one I had overlooking the Colosseum in Rome during our trip early in the year: pasta, salad and bruschetta.  I really loved the rocket, parmesan and walnut salad.  Sylvia loved the ravioli in truffle cream.  Even better we both had room for their amazing dessert.  She had tiramisu and I had the Baileys cheesecake with berry sauce.  And then I had a delicious eggplant parma with chips and slaw at the Green Man's Arms after seeing Better Man in the evening.  A fine end to a year of eating awesome meals at cafes and restaurants both locally and abroad..

News and Weblinks:

Rage, race and good looks: the forces behind the lionization of a murder suspect: Reaction to Brian Thompson’s killing shocked pundits but a polarized US is united in contempt for health system, in The Guardian, 16 December 2024.

Notre Dame rises from the ashes at last: world leaders join embattled Macron for grand reopening, in The Guardian, 8 December 2024.

Victoria prepares for worst fire conditions since black summer as Grampians bushfire rages, in The Guardian, 23 December 2024.

A giant is felled: Woolworths 0, workers 1: After staff rebelled against a punitive, algorithm-driven regimen introduced by the huge supermarket chain, they demanded — and got — safety over speed, by Stephen Long in The Politics, 10 December 2024.

The trouble with friends: The wonder, and the curse, of friendship is choice, by Weike Wang in The New Yorker, August 17, 2024.

As an oncologist, I learn from my patients what matters most in life, by Ranjana Srivastava in The Guardian, 18 December 2024.

Why AI is a disaster for the climate, by John Naughton in  , 24 December 2023.

Being glue (About people with the "other skills" - ie non-technical - at work that make a project succeed or fail), by Tanya Reilly in No Idea Blog, 2019. 

In My Kitchen: December 2024

We have eaten all the Christmas leftovers, the Christmas tree is in the compost and the last of the Christmas presents left the building today.  It is well and truly January 2025 but today I talk about the good eats in my kitchen of December.  I am back at work today and the joy of two weeks leave - over what my sister in Ireland calls Twixmas - is over.  Our Christmas tree star was drooping so much that I think it was relieved when I took down the tree.  As always I wish for more time to sleep in, read books, and get crafting. Of course I wish I had done more cleaning but there is so much else to do - or not do as the case might be, given how busy early December was.  For more about the past year, check out my Reflections on 2024 post.

I have written more  in a post about festive foods in 2024, but even so a little bit of silly season will find its way into this post.  There has been a lot of leftover nut roast and salad sandwiches over the holidays but we ate well on New Year's Eve.  Sylvia loved the Christmas nut roast so I made it again, this time with some oats and miso.  It was great with mushroom gravy, potato salad and lettuce with tomatoes from our garden.

It's a truth universally acknowledged that when baking mince pies and cake, that one needs Minestrone and chia jam.  Or so it was in our kitchen just before Christmas! Sylvia bought bananas a few weeks before and watched the skins get nice and dark before she finally used the flesh of the banana in this miso maple banana bread.  She also baked the one batch of chocolate mince pies made in our house this year.  We enjoyed them very much.  I also had some lovely traditional mince pies from my mum's kitchen. 

Everything is better with rhubarb strawberry chia jam.  Even a spoon looks pretty good with a mound of this jam on it heading for my mouth.  I had about 85g of rhubarb from the garden that I chopped finely.  I added a 250g punnet of finely chopped strawberries and a few tablespoons of maple syrup and a teaspoon of sugar.  Then I simmered it until it seemed soft enough.  It was so good.  Even good on the miso maple bread and the miso glaze.

The miso maple banana bread with miso glaze was also great when we saw Wicked at the Abbotsford Convent outdoor cinema.  The banana bread and mince tarts were as magical as the movie!  

I have heard good things about the vegan Pana Organic chocolates.  So I bought a couple of blocks when it was on special at the supermarket.  Both the Tasman Sea Salt and Coconut Rough bars were lovely.  Smooth milk chocolate made with coconut milk.
 

After an early bike ride to see Sammy J's farewell live show on the Melbourne Museum forecourt - he's been on ABC breakfast radio for 5 years - I was passing by Calle Bakery.  I stopped in for a loaf of spelt sourdough bread, yuzu honey salt croissant and a spinach and cheese pastry.  All sturdy baking to carry on the back of my bike and all excellent to eat.  I also had a lovely light rye sourdough loaf from Bake Alley Bakes during December.  So great to have amazing bread for salad sandwich!

Before Christmas I finally took all the fading kids artwork off the overhead kitchen cupboards.  This is as far as I got.  The minion falling into the sponge cake in the collage makes me laugh. It is still a work in progress.   More to come ....

Sylvia made an amazing Mac and Cheese for Christmas Day.  It was one of those tik tok viral sensations!  We had to have a practice batch a couple of weeks before the big day.  It was so rich with amazing cheese strings when a spoonful was lifted out of the saucepan of cheese sauce. This was a big batch but we loved the leftovers as much as when it was fresh out of the oven!

Somehow Sylvia has managed to associate these mushroom pinwheels with Christmas.  Surely is not a coincidence that she has made them before Christmas two years in a row.  Last year they were candidates for Christmas day that never made it.  This year we made it with some huge portobello mushrooms my mum gave us.  They were good but still too small.  Now I want to try them again with two pieces of puff pastry joined so I could make them bigger when I roll the pastry up!

Our cat is Shadow by name, shadow by nature.  He loves to lie in the shade of the rogue catnip that has grown like crazy since it took root in the corner where the concrete slab meets the wooden fence post.  I have been meaning to cut it back but now I have noticed bees where it is flowering!  It seems the creatures in the garden are encouraging a backyard jungle! 

We doubled these Chilli garlic tofu udon noodles for one from Fresh Off the Raq.  We really liked the seasoned crumbled (or minced) tofu with the noodles.  Next time though we have agreed that Sylvia will go easy with the chilli paste.  I served them with lots of corn, asparagus and snow peas.

Sylvia asked for this simple vegetable and pasta soup from yessidothecookingg on Tik Tok.  The onion, carrot and celery were boiled and blended in a little broth and then thinned with more broth and mixed with cooked pasta.  It looks plain but was unexpectedly good!

A recent favourite of Sylvia's is Tofucado.  Great name!  Easy dinner!  The rice is cooked while the tofu is grated and fried until crispy.  The avocado dressing is prepared and stirred through the avocado which is served with rice, diced cucumber and crisp seaweed.  Sylvia likes it with furikake.  I loved it with tomatoes and celery.

Another Tik Tok success was the Sticky Wine Glazed Tofu Fillet by by ellysplate. The tofu is boiled in stock.  The drained stock is made into a more complex marinade for the tofu to rest in overnight.  It looked like a lot but I was amazed to see that it all just fitted in the Dr Who lunchbox.  The next day was Christmas day and the tofu was baked with regular basting with the marinade.  It looked great with the cross cross cut into the slab of tofu.

Here is a plate of leftovers the day after Christmas.  It is filled with Mac and Cheese, nut roast and gravy from Christmas day and Pearl couscous, cucumber and rocket salad with pesto nut roast from Christmas eve, plus some salad veg.  I have seen some fun recipes for Christmas leftovers but it is such a lazy time of year I am happy to have mine in a bowl or a sandwich.

We also hit the sales after Christmas where we got a new kitchen clock and new chopping board for onions and garlic following the recent demise of both of their predecessors.  We had be using both halves of the old chopping board but I really missed a kitchen clock.

This is another lazy dessert platter from New Years Eve.  We gathered some sweet baking from the shops, cherries, apricots strawberries and some Lindt chocolate bears.  I was quite taken with the stollen cookies from Aldi.  We drank a mocktail of apricot nectar, apple cider and non-alcoholic champagne and had fun with sparklers in the back yard.  It was a fine way to celebrate the end of the year.  I hope you have had a good festive season and wish you well for 2025!

I am sending this post to Sherry of Sherry's Pickings for the In My Kitchen event. If you would like to join in, send your post to Sherry by 13th of the month.  Or just head over to her blog to visit more kitchens and her gorgeous hand drawn header.  Thanks to Sherry for continuing to host this even that brings together some wonderful bloggers who share glimpses into their kitchens.

Reflections 2024

Happy New Year!  Looking back over 2024, I could sum it up as a year of hope.  As always there was lots of change - a new job, a new school and new interests - but also lots of travel, great food and fun outings.  There is a lot to say about the year so find a comfy seat and enjoy my reflections on 2024.

We started the year with a busy 4 weeks of travelling to Edinburgh, Rome, Zurich (above photo), London, and back to Edinburgh. So many icons, amazing history and great food, as well as nostalgia for past trips and joy at seeing familiar faces.  When we returned home, Sylvia transferred her enrollment to an online school that suited her much better.  I had some redundancy pay so I was able to spend time settling Sylvia settling into a new school.  In August I started a new job in a collaborative centre that is fascinating and a little crazy!

The year also brought us: More bike riding. Fresh pasta-making.  Winter coughs and colds in July.   Historic tours (Johnston Collection, Pentridge, Sydney Road).  Meal planning for dinners.  An onigiri trail.  NGV Triennial.  A new blog header.  Membership of the local historical society.  An unsuccessful attempt at our cat Shadow going for a walk in his harness.  Sylvia's pots taking over the back garden.  My sister's visit from Ireland.  Open House Melbourne talks.  Craft workshops (Turkish lamps, collage and festive dioramas).   Tradies doing major outside work on the drains.  A fairy garden we made out of an old toy oven.  Outdoor events (Winter solstice at CERES, Lightscapes, Royal Melbourne Show, National Celtic Festival, markets). Skin prick tests for Sylvia.  Confirmation of her ongoing peanut allergy.  A new probably allergy: buckwheat.  Live shows (Trophy Boys, Clare Bowditch, Esha Tewari, Sammy J's ABC farewell).

Street art in Brunswick after the style of Leunig

Celebrities who died in 2024: Glynis Johns, Brian Wenzel, Michael Mosley, Donald Sutherland, Shannon Doherty, Michael Leunig, Steve Harley, Jimmy Carter, Dame Maggie Smith, Morgan Spurlock, Kris Kristofferson, Lowitja O'Donoghue, Lynne Reid Banks, James Earl Jones, Bob Newhart, Terri Garr, John Blackman.  And a neighbourhood celebrity, George!

My music in 2024: according to Spotify the types of music in my 2024 music evolution included amusing genre names such as "Hot chocolate ukulele folk" (eg. Indigo Girls, Peter, Paul and Mary, Isabel Rumble), "Mellow rock permanent wave britpop"(eg. Pulp, Blur and Travis) and "Royalcore instrumental classical" (Joe Hisaishi, Max Richter and Arvo Pärt). 

Blog headers: 2007 at bottom to 2024 at top

Improvements to blog

This year it was lovely to find a bit of extra time to spend on the blog while I wasn't working.  I added some navigation improvements and a new monthly round up: 

• Designed a new header.  See above collage of different blog headers over the years with the most recent at the top.
• Posted a list of Craft ideas for kids - a post to compile links to posts with craft ideas, mainly for kids
• Updated the photos on the Recipe Index.  My photos have improved since then.
• Increased the subtitles to make it easier to navigate the Recipe Index. 
• Added anchor links to some broad headings in the contents list of the Reflections and Reviews lists and added photos to these heading in the page.
• I have continued to update my Index of Favourites which is probably one of the pages I refer to the most on the blog.
• I set up a new email subscription service with follow.it.  Readers can opt to be emailed each blog post as it is published, given that I don't currently give the option for updates in any social media service.  The subscription form is on the left hand index on the web view.
• A new My Monthly Chronicles (MMC) post at the start of each month to share where I have been eating out as well as other news and esoteric information I choose to share,
  

As always, there is still a lot to do on the blog.  I wish I had the time to check for broken links and typos.  I would like to tidy up the Reflections and Reviews lists and use dates more to make it clear which items are more recent.  I would like to think about how do I make sense of blog posts going back 17 years?

I wrote a post in April about most of these blog changes.  One of the changes that I have enjoyed is writing My Monthly Chronicles each month.  It is a reflection of my development as a blogger that when I started blogging in 2007, I planned to only blog about recipes but this year I have posted more reflections and reviews than recipes.  MMC is a chance to write about places and reflections that I haven't had time to post.  There are just too many drafts that never see the light of day.  This is a great way to record a little information about places that I might like to return to or just ideas that take my fancy.  It means the blog is a richer resource for me, and for you!

Statistics:

In 2024, I published 129 blog posts.  This is the most posts I have published since 2016.  I attribute this to 47 posts from my travels earlier in the year, with 43 published in 2 months, and some time without work to write them up.  I also had 695K views and 633 comments, according to my Blogger statistics.  

In over 17 years of blogging (since 2007) I have published 2559 posts and amassed a total of 7.77M views and 30.3K comments.  Although my views this year are higher than average, my comments are much lower than average.  No surprises there.  It reflects that I now spend more time writing posts than putting effort into exchanging comments.  It makes me a little sad as I miss when I had more time for comments but that is how my life is right now!  And it is a decent amount of comments for a year!

I had a look at readers' favourites according to my Blogger statistics.  When I generated a top 20 posts I got the five top posts as: Then I found that if I generate a top 20 viewed posts for the year there are only posts from previous years starting with Chookas Cafe Brunswick, Overnight sourdough rolls, Overnight baked sourdough doughnuts, Mexican rice in the microwave, and Damper: traditional Australian campfire bread.  But if I looked a list of views of posts from this year, it looked like about 4 of the posts from my travels had more views than those in the top 20 list.  So I am confused but grateful that people are viewing my posts.

Sylvia's cute foodie discoveries:

When she is not eating pasta and noodles, Sylvia flexes her digital native skills to discover amazing cafes.  She goes places online that I would not know existed!  In fact, the resulting meals are one of my best arguments against the recent legislation banning social media for under 16 year olds.  Some of her cutest discoveries are pictured above with info about them below:

Row 1: Matcha teddy panna cotta at Zero Mode in Box Hill, Amorina Gelato in Rome, Miffy rice bunny served by Just Loved in Blackburn South.
Row 2: Totoro bao from Son-in-Law in CBD, Flinders Street Station nutella filled waffles from Flinders Waffles in CBD, Chocolate teddy ice cream on French toast at Santuccis in Camberwell.
Row 3: Shawn the sheep cake from Linger Patisserie Cafe in Camberwell,  Ghost toast at Humble Rays in Carlton. Christmas tree cupcake at Tylers Milk Bar in Preston.

Memorable random moments

Fun foodie discoveries: Eating a delicious Indigenous edible succulent called Pigface at Bansho Bistrot, drinking Cascara at Industry Beans that is the brewed byproduct of coffee, my first soda with Snake fruit at Rong Cha, and Sylvia introduced me to Tteokbokki (rice sticks) from Korea.

Being encouraged to cut pictures out of picture books at the Collage workshop at Monsalvat.  It gave me permission to come at creativity from a different perspective.

I am still thinking about Series 1, Episode 8 on The Rookie when John Nolan shoots a suspect dead in self defense.  I have seen a lot of procedural television shows but this episode gave an amazing insight into the horror and complexity of this experience.

My favourite comedian of the year (sorry Sammy J) was Aaron Chen who was hilarious in Fisk and in Guy Montgomery Guy Mont Spelling Bee.  I just love his deadpan humour and how it contributed to these fantastic tv shows. In our house he is called Arancheni, high praise given how much Sylvia loves an arancini.

Seeing my home town of Melbourne rendered in stop motion claymation animation in Memoirs of a Snail.  And this is only one of the many wonderful things about this beautiful melancholic film.

Sighing in pleasure at the beautiful evocative writing about a day in the life of a playwright in Dublin in Molly Fox's Birthday, a novel by Deirdre Madden.

Exploring the whimsical garden spaces at Old Man Drew cafe in Ascot Vale.  It is a magical place with a fairy bed here, a canopy of colourful umbrellas there, plants made out of bottles and cups and rusty nails while the relic of a rusted old truck is embedded in the midst of the vintage tables and cascades of vines.

Hearing about the story of John Cade on the tour of Bundoora Homestead.  It was here after returning from World War II that he experimented on himself to discover the benefits of lithium for mental health patients.

Reading Sally Morgan's personal story in My Place gave me an insight into the impact of inter-generational trauma of Aboriginal people who were treated with appalling racism (and still are).

Our top 10 most frequently made recipes
Note that these were not the impressive recipes of the year such as Apple crumble cheesecake or Okinawa taco rice.  This list is of the ones we made over and over again.  Not much sweet food, though miso banana bread was rising up the list at the end of the year.  These are ones we make often enough that they feel familiar and easy.

• Carrot fritters with yoghurt sauce
• Dumpling Okonomiyaki (v)
• Fast track pizza dough (v) with various toppings
• Mock tuna (chickpea) salad (gf, v) 
• Pearl couscous, cucumber and feta salad with pesto
• Rice bake with chickpeas, broccoli and corn (v, gf)
• Sourdough flatbreads (v)
• Tofu besan omelet (gf, v)
  
• Tomato orzo with chickpeas and mushrooms
  
• Toasted muesli - with fruit mince or dried fruit (v)
  
  

Our top 10 most visited cafes:
We love trying out new cafes but some keep us coming back because they serve delicious food at a reasonable price.  These cafes are the local ones that we love and return to over and over either for comfort, convenience and/or creativity.  Quite a few of them are in my drafts folder and I hope to share more about these soon!  Meanwhile, you can find these ones in My Monthly Chronicles this year.

• Calle Bakery, Carlton North 
  
• Chookas Cafe, Brunswick
• Boot Factory, Coburg
• Luthers Scoops, Brunswick
• Melbourne Kebab Station, Coburg
• Pickles Milk Bar, Carlton North
• Ti Amo, Carlton
• Tylers Milk Bar, Preston
• Udon Izakaya Maedaya, CBD
• Zaatar, Coburg
  
  

Top 10 foodie travel experiences:

• Mercato Mayfair food hall in London was a fascinating place of great food in an amazing old church that is now a food hall with a bar on the altar.  To make it even more special, the community-minded and sustainable approach to food is admirable.
  
• Eating lunch at La Biga Ristoracaffe overlooking the Colosseum in Rome.  I loved my meal of bruschetta, salad and cannelloni.  This was the sort of Italian meal to rave about because it was so good together and such a beautiful place to eat.
  
• Best hot chocolate ever at Babbington's Tea Rooms outdoor tables in the piazza at the foot of the Spanish Steps in Rome.
  
• My sister treating us to a meal at Nopi, an Ottolenghi restaurant in SoHo, where we ate amazing food such as chickpea tofu, char sui cauliflower and burrata.
  
• Feasting on rich Fondue surrounded by amazing side dishes at Swiss Chuchi, Hotel Adler in Zurich
• A plate of Fettucine Alfredo being tossed at our table as the waiter tells us the story of the discovery of the dish at Alfredo Alla Scrofa restaurant in Rome where we were eating.
  
• A warming plate of spaetzli at  Burgstein's Gasthaus Penalty in Zurich.  The gasthaus was so cosy and the staff so friendly and welcoming.  I had always wanted to try spaetzli.  Simply buttered and seasoned they were magnificent.  Our leftovers were wonderful for breakfast the next morning.
  
• Snacking on a packet of Fonzies on the train through the Swiss Alps en route to Zurich.  Fonzies remind me of my first trip to Rome when I was excited to find an Italian version of Twisties from Australia, one of our iconic savoury snacks.
  
• Enjoying colourful foods, smelling the spices, admiring viral doughnuts, tasting intense cheese, bantering with stallholders, sampling chocolate covered strawberries, avoiding queues and dreaming of eating Humble Crumble at with Borough Market in London after my sister arrived from Dublin for a weekend.
• Watching cheeky Persian cat, Guillaume, darting out his paw to try and swipe cream from drinks at Maison de Moggy cat cafe in Edinburgh.
  
  

Sylvia's favourite 15 cats of 2024

Sylvia loves the cats around her, especially our cat Shadow and the neighbouring cats.  She loves to see them in cat cafes and to encounter them in the street.  She tried to narrow down her favourites to 10 but in the end had 15 favourites.  They are listed below and some are pictured above:

1. Shadow (middle of the middle)
2. Colosseum cats (top middle)
3. Vanilla, Whiskers and Cream (top right)
4. Marley the Molesworth St cat (top left)
5. Biscuit, who spent a memorable day at our place (middle right)
6. Alice (bottom left)
7. Kitten, Melbourne cat cafe (bottom middle)
8. Salem (bottom right)
   
9. Mr Shy, lazy cat cafe (middle left)
10. Juniper
11. Coco Maison de Moggy
12. The goddesses: Venus and Minerva
13. Charlie and Margot
14. Window tabby in Collingwood
15. Professor

Current affairs and fascinating web links

In the news this year we had lots of change of government including Labour's Keir Starmer elected Prime Minister in the UK and the Republican Donald Trump elected in the USA.  Paris has been in the spotlight for the Olympics, the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral and the collapse of the recently elected Barnier government.  Our Australian Prime Minister Albanese was held to higher standards than his LNP predecessors and fell in the polls.  The Ukraine and Gaza wars continued to produce distressing stories.  We had a feminist hero in Gisele Pelicot who bravely faced the courts and the media during a traumatic French rape trial.  While in Australia, we had the fascinating defamation of Bruce Lehrmann over the Brittany Higgins story, led by an refreshingly sympathetic judge

"More evidence has emerged that AI-driven demand for energy to power datacenters is prolonging the life of coal-fired plants in the US", in The Register, 4 October 2024. 

Butter, candy and pasta chips: 2024's top food trends that changed the way we cook and eat, in euronews, 27 December 2024. 

Whipping up Aboriginal enthusiasm (dropping the age of criminal responsibility to 10 and how it will affect overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the criminal system and racism.) by Jack Waterford  in Pearls and Irritations, 31 December 2024.

What lies beneath: the growing threat to the hidden network of cables that power the internet, in the Guardian, 9 August 2024.

Return to Analogue Eden: Nostalgia for a pre-digital world is the wrong way to protect children from harm, in Patrick Stokes Substack, 26 November 2024.

COP Climate talks could benefit from more feminist values, less focus on tech solutions, experts say, in Inside Climate News, 3 December 2024.

Scientist’s ‘ruthlessly imaginative’ 1925 predictions for the future come true – mostly, in the Guardian, 29 December 2024.

Grass roots on fire: the fuel loads of our democratic neglect: Our representatives have forgotten they are supposed to represent us, gaslighting Australians for decades, by Joel Jenkins in Bogan Intelligentsia, 30 December 2024.

On cognitive dissonance and courage (the charm and destruction of abusive partners and fossil fuel companies) by Gabrielle Kulper in Pearls and Irritations, 12 April 2024.

In Bruce Lehrmann's 'omnishambles' of a trial, Justice Michael Lee delivered a powerful lesson in shades of grey by Annabel Crabb in ABC News, 17 April 2024

Happy New Year

So I end with wishing you and yours a happy new year.  I am not sure that 2025 will bring better politics but I hope you can find peace, joy and hope in your own little corner of the world.  

Our travels this year back to Edinburgh where I once lived demonstrated the strength of what seemed like fledgling relationships when I left in 2002.  Likewise, the blog brings some new faces but also has produced long time friendships.  When we look back we see the patterns of our connections.  The older I get the more it builds certainty for the future but I also know how easily relationships can be affected by the fickle winds of change.  I am very grateful to all who bring joy into my life and those that have lasted the distance.

I ended the year feeling that there is much to catch up on.  I haven't even delivered all of my Christmas presents to my extended family after forgetting them on Christmas day and then not being able to visit after Covid struck down many of my family after a Boxing Day lunch (that I did not attend). So I have much to hope for in 2025.  In the last week of December I went to the beach and also swam laps in the local pool.  I was shocked to be told that my last swim on my multi pass was 23 November 2023.  Thank goodness I got one pool swim in during 2024.  I have been enjoying riding but my bike is currently being checked over because it is not quite right.  So I look forward to a year of more bike riding, more swimming, more good meals, more craft, more good company, more time in the garden and more blogging.

I thank you for continuing to read and comment on my posts, for the company of friends and family and for the community around blogging that continues to delight and support me. Happy new year!